Deputy Principal Pen
WELCOME BACK
I hope that everyone enjoyed a relaxing Easter Break! It has been a busy start to Term Two and lots of learning and events to look forward to as the term progresses.
BEFORE SCHOOL PROCESSES
A reminder to parents about before school expectations:
- All parents who wait with their children before school, are required to wait under under C Block Students should be sitting with their parents at this time. We kindly ask that you do not wait under E Block as this is the thoroughfare to the boys’ toilets and easier to monitor with no parents and students waiting in this area.
- When the bell rings at 8:45am, Prep students will remain under C Block and line up for Mrs Egerton, Mrs Nelson and Mrs Rossiter/Miss Enoch. Parents are asked not to go upstairs with the students as it causes congestion on the stairs and on the veranda which is unsafe. Parents are not required to wait with their prep students. Any prep students without a parent sit under D Block and are supervised by staff.
- Students are not to deliver bags to their line up areas when they arrive at school, but to keep them with them until line up time.
- All students without parent supervision are to sit and wait under D Block. From 8:30 these students are permitted to play handball or skip on the AstroTurf if they choose. When the bell rings, students are asked to return their skipping ropes and handballs to the Year 5/6 volunteers, collect their bags and walk to their line up area.
Front Gate
In trying to be helpful, some students or parents are using a rock from the front garden to hold back the front gate on South Pine Road leaving it wide open! This is very unsafe for our new preppies who may wander off and see the open gate that leads to a very busy road! Please ensure that you keep our front gate closed at all times. Thanks for your help with this.
Our school has a very active Facebook page with daily posts to keep our school community informed of what is happening in our school. Our events are posted throughout the term to allow parents time to be prepared for the term ahead. We encourage all of our parents to follow our page so you can enjoy the wonderful experiences our school has to offer. The more you interact with the page by liking and commenting on posts, the more our page will appear in your newsfeed. A reminder that Facebook is not the best platform to ask questions that you need immediate or urgent replies to, as we don’t always see questions in the comment sections of a post. This is best done by emailing the teacher/admin or calling the office. Facebook is also not a site for posting complaints or negative comments about staff or school processes. If you have some constructive feedback for the school or an issue that you would like to raise, we would respectfully ask that you make an appointment to speak with the Principal to discuss your concerns. Any inappropriate or derogatory comments will be removed from the platform.
Stop, Drop and Go
A friendly reminder to parents that to ensure the Stop, Drop and Go Zone at South Pine Road (in the car park) is successful, it is essential that drivers proceed all the way to the first gate closest to the library. Parents are unable to leave their vehicles in this area to walk their students into under the buildings as it causes congestion to the flow of traffic and becomes a safety issue. Please do not drop your students at the first gate either as this causes cars to have to go around your vehicle and again causes issues with the traffic flow. This gate is locked in the mornings for safety. Thanks for your support with our safe drop-off.
The expectation is the same for Laurel St Stop, Drop and Go. Please do not park in this zone and leave your vehicle as it doesn’t allow for the traffic to flow. It is important to continually move your car to the front of the zone to allow cars to move in behind you. Our staff are working hard to ensure the safety of our students as they leave the school grounds and we appreciate your support with this by following our pick-up and drop-off processes.
Pillar Practice
Our three school pillars including Safety (Be Safe); Relationships (Be Respectful); and Learning (Be a Responsible Learner). Each fortnight at Assembly, a Pillar Practice is shared with staff and students that becomes our focus behaviour improvement. This fortnight, our Pillar Practice is around safe play – play fairly; hands and feet to self; and be safe on playgrounds. All class teachers are provided with a poster for their classroom and will explicitly teach our school expectations around the relevant pillar and behaviour. Students are reminded daily about our focus behaviour with the goal of improving this behaviour across the school. The Student Engagement and Behaviour committee reviews behaviour data across the school at their meetings to discuss future focus areas for identified behaviours of concern. This process is documented in our Student Code of Conduct and is part of our explicit teaching of behaviour in our school. You can support us by being aware of the current Pillar Practice and discussing the expectations with your children at home.
School Dress Code
As the days become cooler, students may need to start wearing a jumper. Parents are asked to please follow our school Dress Code that requires students either wear the school jacket, or a plain blue jumper. Blue jumpers with printed designs, colour jumpers and hoodies are not permitted. Girls are permitted to wear navy or black tights as navy ones are often hard to find. Blue tracksuit pants are also suitable for both boys and girls to wear with their polo shirt. This Dress Code was developed collaboratively with the school community and supports the wearing of a school uniform to promote a sense of belonging and school pride. It also promotes a supportive environment fostering mutual respect among individuals at school by minimising visible evidence of economic, class or social difference. Thank you for your support of our School Dress Code.
Student Council
The Student Council will hold their first meeting for the term on Friday next week. The Student Council is planning a Meal Deal fundraiser with money raised going towards their legacy item. They are also planning an Acts of Kindness Day as a wellbeing initiative for staff and students. More details will be provided after the meeting. Parents are also reminded that the Student Council has reintroduced ‘Wrapper Free Wednesday’, so please be thoughtful in how you package your child’s lunch on Wednesday to help up to reduce waste.
NOVA Radio Station – HANDBALL BLITZ
This morning, Angus from NOVA Radio Station visited Enoggera State School for the Nova Handball Blitz. Kieran (2B) and his mother Rita, nominated ESS for this promotion. Kieran was interviewed live on the radio this morning. Many students who are regular handball players before school were also invited to come along to watch Kieran be interviewed and cheer him on. Nova donated a bag of handballs to the school which will be made available to the students in our lunchtime clubs and activities program, as well as for before school games. We don't have the audio link for this interview just yet, but will be sure to provide it in the next newsletter.
SLIME RUN
This term we are fundraising for the School Chaplaincy service with a Slime Spectacular School Fun Run with Australian Fundraising! The Slime Spectacular School Fun Run will be on Thursday 22nd June from 1.30pm
Students will be given free sunglasses and a rainbow headband for the event. The students will be covered in non-toxic water-based slime from head to toe! (Safety data sheet is available upon request for the Slime).
Fundraising for our Slime Spectacular School Fun Run is entirely online. Follow the instructions in your child’s sponsorship booklet to create a cybersafe, online profile page at www.australianfundraising.com.au. At the end of our fundraiser students can order up to a total of 5 prizes based on their donations received. They can even mix and match!
For further information, please contact Chappy Twinkee on twinkee.polius@suchaplaincy.org.au or 07 3550 1333
Parliament House Visit
On Wednesday 10th May, the School Captains and Mrs Burrows will be visiting Parliament House as guests of Tim Mander MP – Federal Member for Everton. Mr Mander will take a group of leaders visiting from local schools on a tour of parliament house and host a lunch. The 2022 captains from last year also attended Parliament House and it was an interesting and exciting experience. We look forward to returning this year.
